


Bodies

by 11Adrienne058



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternative!draco, Auror Harry Potter, Eventual Smut, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 12:34:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5417273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/11Adrienne058/pseuds/11Adrienne058
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry needs help on a case, however Malfoy seems more interested in irritating Harry then helping.</p>
<p>Or</p>
<p>Where they dance around each other until they have sex in Draco's kitchen. Oh and some auror stuff too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bodies

Harry glared at the mangled body on the floor. The victim was a ministry official, someone high up - the second murder this week. The entire ministry was in a stage of panic, two ministry officials murdered within a week - in the bloody building too. Kingsley was running around like a dementor without a hood, after all, it's not everyday that people get murdered in the same building as the entire auror department. 

"For Merlin's sake," Harry snapped at a couple of the younger aurors, "Stop gawking and send the body to the lab."

One of the young aurors waved her wand feebly and the body vanished. Harry did his best to disperse the horrified crowd with words of encouragement that he could not bring himself to believe. Whoever was able to murder two protected officials in a building full of aurors, ministry workers and other powerful wizards was obviously highly skilled and very, very powerful.

"Auror Potter!" Kingsley bellowed down the hall.

Harry obediently followed the sound of Kingsley's voice and winced as he entered the office and saw it's messy state. Kingsley was never messy.

"Head Auror Shacklebolt," Harry said respectfully, closing the door and sitting in the chair opposite Kingsley.

Kingsley hurriedly sifted through the papers on his desk, pulling out a file of about ten pages and handing it to Harry, who obediently took it and balanced it on his right knee.

"Harry," Kingsley said, sounding exhausted, "That's everything we have on the first murder, I've sent the second body to St Mungo's for cause of death but in the meanwhile I'm assigning you to this case and Harry - " Kingsley paused, looking conflicted, "Be careful who you trust… there aren't many people who can get inside the ministry without a solid reason for being here, not since the new defence charms were cast on the floos." 

Harry stiffened, "Are you suggesting the murderer could work in the ministry?" 

Kingsley hesitated again, "I'm suggesting you be careful who you trust and solve it as quickly as possible. I'd rather not disrupt my entire department over this Harry, so I'm sharing out your workload - until this is solved it is your sole priority, do I make myself clear?" 

"Crystal," Harry muttered. 

*~*   
St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries  
Cause of Death Report

Healer performing autopsy: Charles Gryphon

Name of deceased: Ronaldo Specter  
Sex: Male  
Age: 43  
Occupation: Unspeakable  
Cause of death: Victim appears to have ingested a lethal poison/potion. Said substance corroded his internal organs and caused his arteries to explode, leaving a bruising pattern on the skin. The deceased most likely ingested the poison/potion with his coffee as there was very little else in his stomach. Please be advised that St Mungo's was unable to identify the lethal substance ingested by the deceased. We suggest you take a sample of the substance (We have attached a sample with this report) to a potions specialist/master. 

Kind Regards  
Healer Gryphon

Harry fished in the brown envelope retrieving a shrunken down version of a potions flask and sighed. It had been three days since the murder of Unspeakable Ronaldo Specter and while there hadn't been any more murders - thank Merlin - Harry also had approximately zero leads. He had hoped that the St Mungo's report would share some light on the case but unfortunately, like the first report, the results were pretty useless. 

The first victim was a young witch, Lauren Bloom, who worked in the Muggle Protection department, like Unspeakable Specter she too had been poisoned by a substance St Mungo's had been unable to identify, causing her body to erupt in grotesque boils, covering every inch of her skin until she was virtually unrecognisable. 

Harry threw the report down, rubbing his temples in frustration. Two murders, both done inside the ministry by two potions that St Mungo's couldn't fucking recognise. The longer Harry looked at the two files the more likely it seemed to be an inside job. 

Harry pulled Ronaldo's file towards him again, gritting his teeth against the headache he could feel growing in his skull. "We suggest you take a sample of the substance to a specialist..." Well maybe he should, Harry reasoned, except he didn't know who to trust…

With a sigh Harry pulled a list of shop owners in Diagon Alley, searching for the slightly dark apothecary shop he had eyed on his last visit to the shopping hub. 

D.M. Apothecary & Potions  
Shop 56  
Diagon Alley

The shop - if Harry recalled correctly- had black paint with deep purple lettering and windows lined with various equipment and supplies, tasteful but slightly dark. Perfect for helping Harry identify mystery potions that were poisoning people. Well, hopefully perfect. 

Harry glanced at the watch Molly had given him, seeing that it was nearly time to go home. Harry gathered his cloak and wand, vowing to visit the apothecary shop first thing in the morning. 

*~*

Harry glanced up at the dark purple lettering outside the small shop with a good measure of trepidation. He nervously brushed his too messy hair over his scar and fingered the small vials in his pocket as he entered the apothecary, a small bell signalling his entrance. A small, mousy looking witch looked up and smiled at him as he approached the counter.

"How can I help you, love?" She asked sweetly.

With a rush of relief Harry realised that she hadn't recognised him, and consequently gave her a beaming smile, "Yeah hey, " Harry pulled out his auror badge and vials of potions, "I'm here on official business, I need help identifying these potions." 

The witch glanced at them, mystified, "I really only know the basics," She said slowly, "Let me call my boss quick, if anyone knows what they are, it'll be him." 

"Thanks," Harry said, shooting her a winning smile, "I'll wait here." 

The witch scurried upstairs, and Harry busied himself looking at jars of gross looking animal parts that were probably legal but probably shouldn't be. Newt's eyes, sheep's bladders, goat's tongues, a pickled...what in Merlin is that? 

"Sir!" The witch's voice called out softly, distracting Harry from the slightly nauseous feeling he was getting from the wriggling...thing in the jar, "He'll talk to you, but he's busy with a potion so you'll have to come upstairs." 

"No problem," Harry replied, following the witch's deep purple robes up the stairs and into a rather impressive lab. 

Harry caught sight of a wizard leaning over a cauldron, he was wearing long, tailored, navy blue muggle suit pants and a crisp white shirt that was rolled up to his elbows. His legs lasted for fucking ever, his shirt tailored beautifully around his waist and the crisp lines lead Harry's eyes to a long, pale neck and white blonde hair that - oh shit.

No fucking way.

"Draco," The witch called over the slight bubbling of the potion. 

Draco fucking Malfoy turned around, caught sight of Harry and raised one pale eyebrow, leaning back against the granite counter and folding his arms across his chest defensively.

Harry waited for the familiar rise of suspicion and dislike in his stomach, and was beyond relived when it never came. The war was over long ago, and Harry just wanted everyone to get over their preconceptions, the sooner the better. If Malfoy was happy to act professional, Harry was more than on board with that. 

The door chimed downstairs and the witch left hurriedly to attend to it, leaving Harry and Malfoy alone.

"Malfoy," Harry grinned at him as best as he could, "Long time no see, you look well."

Malfoy blinked, obviously not expecting that, but quickly recovered and gave Harry a sly smirk, "Potter, what brings you to my humble shop on this fine morning?" 

Harry grimaced, remembering the reason with a jolt and reaching for the vials, "Business, sort of, I was hoping you could identify some potions for me." 

Malfoy raised an eyebrow again and gestured for the vials - which Harry gave him. Malfoy frowned as he took in the strange colour of the substance and opened the lid to sniff at the strange liquid.

"May I know the story behind these potions?" Malfoy asked, eyeing the gloopy mixture distastefully

Harry considered this quickly, Malfoy certainly didn't care about Ministry officials, and wasn't likely to go running to the Daily Prophet either, and let's face it, Harry had zero leads and was getting desperate.

"Each one was used to poison two separate Ministry officials, St Mungo's was unable to identify them, and suggested I take them to an expert so...here I am." 

"What made you bring them here?" Malfoy asked slightly suspiciously. 

Harry shrugged, deciding again to opt for the truth, "Your shop looks like it might have extra knowledge on dark potions." 

Malfoy stiffened defensively, "So you're here check that everything I'm doing is legal? Christ Potter, you haven't changed a bit." 

Harry laughed openly at Malfoy's outraged expression, "Merlin no, I wouldn't know whether any of this stuff was legal or illegal, my lack of knowledge about potions and their ingredients is embarrassing, I'm honestly here to ask for your advice." 

Malfoy blinked, jaw slacked, obviously disconcerted by Harry's easy attitude, "Well, it's obviously a dark potion, but it's not one I can identify immediately, if you leave them with me I can separate the ingredients and work it out from there." 

"Excellent!" Harry exclaimed, "Thanks so much Malfoy, how much do I owe you?" 

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Harry, obviously still suspicious of his relaxed attitude, "Let me see if I can help you before we discuss fee." 

Harry grinned at Malfoy passing him a slip of paper with the physical and floo address of his office in the ministry, "Floo or owl me when you've found something and I'll stop by." 

Malfoy inclined his head elegantly and turned back to his cauldron, "Kindly fuck off Potter, I've got work to do." 

Harry smiled and let himself out. 

*~*

"Merlin's pants Malfoy!" Harry clutched his chest to try calm down his rapidly beating heartbeat, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" 

"That would be a preferable turn of events," Malfoy sneered from where he was perched on top of Harry's desk.

It had been two days since Harry had spoken to Malfoy and while luckily there hadn't been any other murders, Harry also hadn't made much progress. 

"How did you even get in here?" Harry muttered as he dumped his stuff onto the chair opposite his desk, the desk that Malfoy was casually sitting on, crossing those long, elegant legs over each other, looking haughty, gorgeous and extremely out of place in Harry's messy office. 

What? Gorgeous? Harry frowned at his train of thought and looked at Malfoy again, noting the angular features, smooth, pale skin, long, lean limbs and white - blonde hair that had lost the slicked back look from their Hogwarts days and was now lying artfully across Malfoy's forehead. Harry supposed he was a good looking bloke, but still, it was Malfoy! And while Harry was more than happy to forgive Malfoy for his unfortunate participation in the war, that didn't mean he wanted to jump into bed with the git. War aside, they had always hated each other at school!

Harry blinked as long fingers waved in front of his face, "Oi, Potter, you listening to me?" Malfoy demanded.

"Err sorry, what?" Harry asked sheepishly. 

Malfoy stared at him incredulously, "You were always crazy Potter, but zoning out randomly is a whole new level of insanity, even for you." 

Harry rolled his eyes and, deciding he didn't actually care how Malfoy got in, asked, "Did you find something?" 

Malfoy, while still suspicious of Harry's mental state, couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice as he warmed to the topic, "These two are fascinating potions, both completely unique, both brewed by an incredibly skilled witch or wizard, they're both designed to have lethal effects but because of the unique ingredients it is almost impossible to determine who brewed them, in my professional opinion," Malfoy stopped then, pursued his lips and pinned Harry with a thoughtful gaze, "In my professional opinion," He continued with a sly smile, "I need to take a look at the bodies before I can make any more assumptions." 

Harry barely resisted rolling his eyes, obviously Malfoy was intrigued by the case and wanted in on the action. The git was more than smart enough to draw an accurate conclusion without seeing the bodies and Harry knew it, but Harry needed Malfoy's help, and if he was being honest with himself, Harry had always had a weakness for tall, leggy blondes.

"Very well," Harry replied, grabbing his wand and sorting through the folders on his desk until he found the two St Mungo's reports, "Follow me." 

Malfoy blinked rapidly, "Wait...you're actually letting me see them?" 

"Not if you don't hurry up," Harry replied, holding the door open for Malfoy and gesturing for the tall blonde to lead the way.

Malfoy and Harry took the downstairs floo to St Mungo's in silence, relaxed on Harry's behalf and brooding on Malfoy's. However when they arrived at St Mungo's and asked to see the bodies Malfoy had regained his former enthusiasm, bounding along the corridors of the hospital at a pace that only his endless legs could provide.

"Do try to keep up Potter," Malfoy called over his shoulder, "You're slower than Longbottom was at arithmancy." 

Harry rolled his eyes but made no effort to speed up, after all, Malfoy couldn't get into the mortuary without Harry's supervision. 

Harry rounded the last corner and smiled at the witch eyeing Malfoy suspiciously, "Good morning, I'm Auror Potter, I'm here to see the bodies of Ronaldo Specter and Lauren Bloom, Mr Malfoy is consulting me," Harry gestured towards the impatient git. 

The witch nodded and let them in, directing them to the far right corner of the room. 

"It's Doctor," Malfoy said casually as they walked towards the bodies.

"What?" Harry questioned, squinting at him through the fluorescent lighting spells in the room.

"It's Dr Malfoy," The blonde elaborated, 'I studied to be a Healer in France before I got involved in potions." 

Harry blinked at the taller man, suddenly invaded with images of Malfoy in Healer robes, "My apologies, Dr Malfoy," Harry said with a grin.

"Apology accepted, git," Malfoy sneered back. 

Harry shook his head and chuckled to himself as they reached the mangled bodies of Bloom and Specter. Malfoy pounced on the bodies immediately, examining them with expert eyes and a demeanor that was too lively to be appropriate in a mortuary. Malfoy made his observations in silence allowing Harry to make his own observations, not of the bodies (Harry wouldn't even know where to begin) but rather of the doctor examining them. Malfoy was wearing another muggle suit, this one in charcoal grey, that was tailored perfectly to Malfoy's lean body. Like the first time, Malfoy wasn't wearing a tie, but he had donned a matching charcoal grey jacket that flaunted his narrow waist. 

"Potter," Malfoy said as he bent over to inspect Ronaldo's ears, "I can feel all four of your eyes drilling holes into my back, what the fuck is your problem?' 

"Why the muggle suits?" Harry asked in reply, surprising both Malfoy and himself.

"Am I not allowed to wear whatever I want Potter," Malfoy asked sourly, obviously taking Harry's question to mean that Harry didn't like his choice in clothing, which in fact was the opposite of Harry's opinion.

"Of course you are," Harry replied hurriedly, "In fact I think it suits you, just never thought I'd see you wear anything other than pureblood crafted wizard's robes." 

It was the first jab Harry had made at Malfoy since they had met again two days ago, and if the triumphant smirk that Malfoy was wearing was any indication, the git knew it too.

"I think you'd be surprised by many of the things I wear Potter," Draco said smugly as he turned back to Ronaldo's ears, "Come look at this." 

Harry obediently rushed forward to look at Malfoy's find, "See this black crusty stuff inside his ear Potter?" Malfoy asked, to which Harry wrinkled his nose but nodded on confirmation, "That's a unique side effect of the poison extracted from the Blue Fire Sea Urchin, a rare but lethal creature only found in the waters surrounding the Caribbean Islands, it's illegal to trade in and extremely expensive on the black market, however it's not a commonly used poison because in order for the poison to be activated it has to be brewed extremely carefully, very few people can pull off a potion like that Potter, very few." 

Harry glanced up as Malfoy's voice trailed over, and tensed when he realised just how close Malfoy's steely grey eyes where to his own, "Please tell me you're going somewhere with this Malfoy," Harry asked quietly. 

Malfoy blinked and disappeared down to stand by Ronaldo's feet, "The poison from this particular Urchin can only be injected directly into the bloodstream, not digested." 

Harry frowned, "Then why would you find it in his stomach..." 

"Good question," Malfoy replied quietly.

"And Lauren?" 

Malfoy moved over to stand by said witch's head, "Same poison." 

Harry frowned, "But the potions were different." 

Malfoy nodded, "The potion Lauren digested was cleverly disguised arsenic, a slow acting poison that would've caused the grotesque looking boils we see, but not the cause of death." 

Harry nodded, mulling over the facts in his mind, "Thanks Malfoy, you've been a lot of help." 

"Of course I have," The git said said smugly, leaning attractively against the closest wall.

Right, payment. Harry reached for his wallet, pulling it out and asking Malfoy how much he owed him.

Frowning, Malfoy replied, "You can pay me when you've caught the person, I'll owl you the details."

Harry nodded, pocketing his galleons, "Very well, it's been nice catching up with you." 

Malfoy snorted and disapparted, causing sirens to go off, like they always did when someone apparated in or out of St Mungo's. Git. 

Harry gritted his teeth and tried hurriedly to smooth it over with the healers and staff members that had burst in, looking for the source of the disturbance. Bloody typical Draco Malfoy.

*~* 

"So, maybe the person who poisoned the Ministry officials just wanted it to look like an inside job by slipping the poison into the victim's food or - or maybe they payed someone to slip the poison in!" Harry turned, frustrated and paced to the other end of Kingsley's office.

"Harry," Kingsley said quietly, and when Harry didn't stop, repeated his name louder.

Harry collapsed into the chair opposite Kingsley's desk and glared at an offending stain on the wall behind Kingsley's desk.

"I have complete faith that you can figure this out Harry," Kingsley said gently, "Just give it some time." 

Harry made his way back to his office feeling slightly calmer, he had mulled over what Malfoy had told him all of yesterday afternoon and last night and hadn't come up with one plausible theory. It was infuriating. 

Harry was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the person sitting in his office chair until he had reached his very messy desk.

"Merlin's beard Malfoy!" Harry actually jumped back in fright, "What is your problem?' 

Malfoy arched one pale eyebrow, not looking impressed with Harry, "Honestly Potter, I don't know how you managed to become an auror, you have the worst observational skills I've ever seen, and that's saying something." 

Harry scowled, but forced his tone to remain polite and detached, "Can I help you with something Dr Malfoy?" 

"I think I can help you, actually," Malfoy preened, filling Harry's mind with inappropriate images about all the ways Malfoy could 'help Harry out', "I figured you probably haven't got enough brains to come up with a solution to your little problem," Malfoy continued, "So I complied a list of shops that I think may sell that particular species of urchin's poison, which I'll give to you, for a price." 

Harry sighed, unfortunately for him that was actually a very good idea, and something he'd never have been able to do on his own - having no knowledge of the illegal potion trade. 

"What's your price Malfoy?" Harry asked.

Malfoy grinned, "You have to do and say what I tell you too, otherwise you won't find anything - anyone can tell you're an auror from a mile away." 

Git. Although Harry knew Malfoy had a point, Harry wouldn't have a clue how to source out sellers of illegal potion ingredients. Harry tried not to think about how Malfoy knows. 

"Very well, what do you want me to do?" Harry asked in as polite tone as he could manage.

Malfoy's smile widened in glee, "Well firstly, don't you have anything decent to wear? Secondly that godawful hair of yours has got to go and…."

Harry sighed as he tuned out Malfoy, this was going to be a long morning.

*~* 

About an hour later Malfoy and Harry set out for the first shop, a dark place in Knockturn Alley, called "The Three Fingers", armed with polyjuice potion induced disguises. Malfoy had given him strict instructions, to choose someone well groomed, wear dark coloured dress robes, and to dress smartly. Harry had chosen to use Ron's assistant because firstly, he was new to England and very few people knew him and secondly because he was bloody gorgeous. Harry had then donned his dark, mossy green dress robes and had gone to meet Malfoy.

Malfoy had chosen to disguise himself as a tall, muscular brunette. The bloke was fit enough, but Harry privately thought Malfoy was better looking.

"You look like nine hundred percent better than you normally look!" Malfoy announced with a smirk as they reached the door of 'The Three Fingers', to which Harry rolled his eyes and gestured for Malfoy to enter before him. 

The pair approached the tall, skinny man at the counter and Draco made quick work of using the correct jargon to announce his presence as an expert in the potions field. Even in disguise the git managed to look pretentious and all knowing. If Harry was completely honest, he didn't even understand what Malfoy was talking about and before he knew it, Harry was being ushered out the door with a shake of Malfoy's head.

The next five shops all went about in a similar fashion, Malfoy rushed Harry to all the corners of the globe (literally) and talked to the shop owner for about five seconds ( five seconds during which Harry was unable to understand anything that had happened) before shaking his head and moving on to the next shop.

Finally on the sixth shop something happened. It was a tiny shop in Wales called 'Potions and Poisons' and after about ten minutes of Malfoy haggling with the shop owner they agreed on 25 galleons for...something. Malfoy gave Harry a nudge and Harry realised that he was supposed to pay for the...thing. Wordlessly Harry handed over the exorbitant fee and Malfoy thanked the owner before tugging Harry out of the shop. 

The pair aparated and Harry was relieved to find himself in Diagon Alley, he needed a mental break to try make sense of everything he had just seen and heard. Malfoy opened his mouth but before he could speak Harry dragged him into the nearest coffee shop, plonking him down roughly at a table hidden from the people walking up and down the street. 

"Just, explain to me what happened, please Malfoy," Harry demanded, bringing his fingers to his temple and massaging the growing headache there.

By now it was late afternoon, and Harry was exhausted. How Malfoy had managed to stay so alert Harry would never know.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, "Honestly Potter, you really are so thick, the first five shops didn't have any of the urchin's poison, and hadn't sold any for a while, the sixth shop did. I bought some so I can see whether it is the same batch as the poison that killed the two ministry officials." 

Harry nodded, not even bothering to react to Malfoy's jab on his intellect, "Thanks Malfoy, I really appreciate it."

Harry could feel the polyjuice potion slowly fading away and at the same time noticed that Malfoy's mud brown eyes had returned to their normal steel grey colour. Said steely eyes roamed languidly across Harry's face, taking in the features that were now predominantly Harry's, the gaze felt intimate, almost erotic, and Harry couldn't help the shiver that went up his spine. 

"You look like shit, " Malfoy sneered, "How much sleep did you get last night?" 

Harry rolled his eyes as the last remaining traces of Polyjuice Potion faded from both Malfoy and himself, "I find it very difficult to sleep on an unsolved case." 

"Bloody Gryffindor," Malfoy muttered under his breath as he stood up.

Harry watched as Malfoy walked up to the counter, admiring the way the navy blue dress robes drapped over the git's slender figure. Malfoy chatted to the café barista with charisma and enthusiasm that Harry had never had aimed towards himself. Harry smiled to himself and shook his head, wondering when Malfoy was going to give up this stupid game of his.

Malfoy returned to their table with two steaming cups of coffee and Harry moaned quietly at the smell, causing Malfoy to give him an unreadable look.

"Your hair looks ridiculous Potter, don't you ever visit the hairdresser?" Malfoy snapped at him as the git sat down.

Harry took a scolding gulp of hot coffee before putting his cup down and fixing Malfoy with an intense look.

"What are you trying to achieve Malfoy?" Harry asked quietly..

Malfoy shot him a suspicious look, "What do you mean?" 

"The jabs. Rude comments. We aren't at school anymore you know, and I know you're capable of being decent, even charming. Surely you realise it isn't going to work on me?" Harry queried simply.

Malfoy leaned forward with a rather suggestive (and undeniably gorgeous) smile, "So what does work on you Potter?" 

Harry felt himself flush slightly but persisted, "Is that what the point of this is Malfoy? To get a rise out of me? "

Unfortunately for Harry, Malfoy had noticed his slight flush and the git moved even closer with a wicked grin, "Am I making you uncomfortable Potter?" 

Harry couldn't help it, he stood up quickly, desperate to put some space between himself and Malfoy, "Thank you for assisting me Dr Malfoy, I'll be in contact.'

Malfoy's answering grin was dazzling, and Harry groaned internally. He had just given away one of his weaknesses - to Malfoy of people! It's not that Harry was ashamed of his sexuality, he just had a feeling that Malfoy was going to make his life very difficult after today.

Bugger it all. 

*~* 

Harry didn't even look up from his report as the door to his office flung open just after noon the following day. Malfoy had managed to sneak into Harry's case everyday since he found out about it, and today didn't seem like an exception. To be honest, Harry was surprised the git hadn't pitched up before now. 

"Afternoon Malfoy,"Harry said pleasantly as he looked at the case files for the hundredth time, trying to discern any new information from them.

"Afternoon Potter," Malfoy replied as he perched in the chair opposite Harry's desk, "Today's my day off, so I thought I'd come over and help you with your case." 

Harry nodded and reached for his third cup of coffee when Malfoy propped his feet up on Harry's desk next to Harry's paperwork. Harry glanced at Malfoy's feet, ready to tell him to get his shoes off the desk, but the words died in Harry's mouth. Malfoy was wearing dragon hide boots, but that was not what made Harry's mouth dry. It was Malfoy's legs, those long, lean, gorgeous legs that were encased in leather trousers, and his lean torso encased in a tight black t-shirt and...my god, was Malfoy wearing eyeliner? 

The blonde git raised an eyebrow, a smug smirk tugging at his lips, "Something wrong, Potter?" 

Harry took a deep, shuddering breath, putting his hand over his face and willing his twitching cock to calm down, "Malfoy, what are you wearing?" 

Malfoy shrugged elegantly, "My casual clothes. Now, what are we doing today Potter?" 

Harry took another deep breath and replied, "I was thinking of retracing the steps of Ronaldo and Lauren, see where they could've possibly been injected with the poison." 

Malfoy nodded, frowning in concentration, "It doesn't require much, the needle would've been thin, both victims wouldn't have felt a thing." 

"Nevertheless it would've had to have been somewhere where the person would've been able to inject them unnoticed," Harry mused.

"Yes," Malfoy agreed, "someplace in a shady area, or perhaps they had some kind of invisibility charm, or maybe they levitated the needle." 

Suddenly realisation hit Harry like a bus, causing him to grin madly, "What about a very crowded area?" 

Malfoy gave him a concerned look, probably because of Harry's insane grin, "I suppose…" 

"Something like the Ministry floos?" 

And just like that Malfoy's grin matched Harry's.

*~* 

"Hurry up Potter!" Malfoy snapped as he strode forward, and really, Harry was trying, but Malfoy's arse was unbelievably distracting in those fucking leather trousers. 

Finally the pair made it to the floos, which were luckily deserted, Harry turned to Malfoy, "Okay I'm going to floo to my house, you floo to wherever, and then at exactly -" Harry checked the watch Molly had given him, "ten past two, we floo back, okay?" 

Draco nodded and stepped into the floo, vanishing with a murmur. Harry quickly followed suit, flooing to Grimmauld Place and paced, checking his watch every five seconds. At exactly ten past Harry stepped into the floo with a yell of 'Ministry of Magic' and was immensely disappointed when Draco stumbled out of a different floo. 

"If it doesn't work on time," Malfoy contemplated, rolling his lip between his teeth in a distracting way, "What does it work on?" 

"Place?" Harry suggested, "Except Ronaldo and Lauren lived on opposite sides of town..." 

Harry and Malfoy were staring blankly at the floos, as if waiting for the answer to appear in the flames, when an ear splitting scream sounded from the elevators. Instinctively Harry ran towards the sound, pulling his wand out in the process.

The elevator dinged and a woman flew out, shaking, catching sight If Harry she yelled, "In there! Professor Keel!" 

Harry rushed forward, heart pounding, and felt his stomach drop like a stone when he saw the rapidly increasing pool of blood in the center of the elevator. Hanging from the rafters of the elevator was indeed, Professor Keel. Though how the lady had recognised him was beyond Harry, because the Professor was covered from head to toe in bruises and cuts. 

Harry felt, rather than saw, the mediwizards rush past him, obviously to take the dead professor to St. Mungo's. As the body was rushed past him, Harry caught sight of thick, black fluid dribbling out of Keel's ear.

*~*

Harry closed the door to the interview room calmly, walking back to his office, expression blank. Entering his office, Harry stared down at the paperwork covering it. He had just finished interviewing the woman who had found the body, as well as the person Professor Keel had come to visit, and found exactly nothing.

Keel had come to visit Unspeakable Lowry, but it was a social visit, not a work related one. As far as Harry knew, Keel was a good guy, and no one had seen any suspicious looking people around Keel since he appeared in the Ministry. 

One more murder victim, and Harry was no closer to discovering the guilty party.

God dammit.

Harry was swept up in blinding, white hot anger, causing him to swipe viciously at the papers on his desk, kick over the chair and smash the ugly vase against the wall. Breathing heavily, Harry surveyed the damage he has wrecked on his office, feeling much calmer and more collected.

"Wow Potter, " A voice drawled from behind him, "That was impressive. You look good when you're all flushed and worked up." 

Harry closed his eyes. He had completely forgotten about Malfoy. Calmly he turned around and looked at Malfoy. The git was perched on top of a small table that stood up against the wall opposite Harry's desk. Malfoy the still looked like a walking fantasy, with his dark eyeliner, tight leather trousers and artfully tousled hair. He was watching Harry with a blank look, not afraid, but cautious.

"My apologies, Dr Malfoy," Harry said stiffly, "In the excitement of the new developments I forgot you were assisting me." 

"If the state of your office is anything to go by, I'd say that your 'new development' wasn't very enlightening," Malfoy replied.

Harry sighed and turned back to his office, murmuring a series of quick spells to repair the damage he had caused.

As Harry watched the papers flying back to his table he said, "This is going to be a lot of paperwork, go home Malfoy, I'll firecall you if I need you." 

When Harry turned around again, five minutes later, Malfoy had disappeared.

*~* 

Harry arrived early to work the next day as usual, wanting to skip the morning floo rush. Harry caught sight of Hermione, who was chatting to someone Harry knew worked in the Magical Creature Regulations Department. Harry walked towards her, hoping to exchange a few pleasantries before heading up to work, with this case Harry had had little time to speak to Ron or Hermione, and found he missed them terribly. There are something about hunting for pieces of Voldemort's soul that really brought people together. 

Conveniently, Harry reached Hermione at the same time the man she was chatting to left. They hugged, exchanged hellos and started chatting about Ron's new, irritating owl. When there was a lull in the conversation Harry glanced around, just in time to see a woman hurry out of the floo towards the elevator - the morning floo rush was just about to begin.

"Hey Hermione," Harry said slowly, "How do the Ministry floo's work? I mean...how to they decide which wizards get sent to which fireplace? I know there must be some method, because I always appear in the same fireplace every morning." 

Hermione gave him a disapproving look, "Honestly Harry, everyone knows that the fireplaces are ordered according to rank, the most important Ministry employees appear in the fireplaces closest to the elevators, and the least important Ministry employees appear In the fireplaces futherest from the elevators. Guests are randomised. Harry, everyone knows that." 

Then Hermione got distracted by Kingsley's appearance in one of the fireplaces (one close to the elevators, Harry noted) and rushed after him, most likely to ask him for his support on whatever her latest project was.

Harry watched her go, he (vaguely) watched a lot of Ministry employees go past, deep in thought. It was well past the morning rush before Harry was startled out of his thoughts - indeed the hall was deserted - and that was only because a hand touched his shoulder. Spinning around, Harry caught sight of Malfoy, dressed today in a black suit, watching him with a guarded expression.

"Malfoy!" Harry sprang to life, "Just the person I need!" 

Harry grabbed his identification card out of his robes pocket, and attempted to retrieve his wand out of the other, however it caught on the heavy fabric of his Auror robes. Frustrated Harry tore the heavy robes off, piling it on the floor next to him and leaving him in his muggle jeans and soft green t-shirt. 

Harry quickly muttered a quick spell, creating an identical copy of the identification card and handing the copy to Malfoy.

"Put that in your pocket, go somewhere and floo back in ten minutes, got it?" Harry instructed.

"Okay, "Malfoy agreed quickly, stepping into a fireplace and flooing away.

Harry grabbed his robes off the floor and stepped into the flames a minute after Draco had vanished, flooing quickly to Grimmauld Place. Ten minutes later Harry stepped back into the flames, making sure his identification card was in his jeans pocket - he had decided to leave his auror robes at home, they were much to uncomfortable anyway.

As Harry travelled rapidly along the floo he distinctly felt a pair of arms wrapping around his waist, and a warm body pressing against his back. Harry reached the fireplace in the ministry and stumbled out, pulling a gorgeous Draco Malfoy out with him.

"That's how they did it!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, grabbing Malfoy's arm, "When we floo we can see other wizards travel alongside us if they're heading to the same fireplace, who knew it only took a touch to bring them into the same space? It would've been easy enough for the murderer to grab the end of their cloak and inject them with the poison! Brilliant!"   
Harry beamed at Malfoy, smile fading when he realised how close together they were. Malfoy still had his one arm around Harry's waist, and Harry was gripping Malfoy's bicep, bringing their faces so close together, Harry could see every line on Malfoy's plump, pink lips and -

Wait what?

Harry stepped back hurriedly , causing Malfoy to raise an eyebrow and smirk.

"Uncomfortable by my proximity, Potter?" He questioned languidly.

Harry rolled his eyes, "There must be a connection between our victims somehow." 

Draco followed Harry towards his office, perching himself on top of Harry's desk while Harry looked for the papers. 

"Here," Harry handed him a file, "Look through this." 

The next few hours were spent in frustrated silence, the pair of them pouring over the same information Harry had memorised by this point. At about five in the afternoon Harry slammed the files down, stretching his arms behind his back and glancing up at Malfoy underneath his lashes.

Malfoy hadn't put down the file, but he was staring at the sliver of skin Harry had exposed by stretching. Feeling an odd twisting in his stomach Harry quickly brought his arms down.

"I'm famished, " Harry said grumpily, "Want to go get some dinner?" 

Malfoy smirked, "Did the chosen one just ask me to go to dinner with him?" 

Harry flushed, it hadn't sounded that odd when he'd asked. 

"You are more than welcome to go home, but I'm going to grab a bite at The Leaky Cauldron," Harry announced, pulling himself up and grabbing his spare coat. 

Malfoy chuckled but followed him down the hall, walking out into the drizzling grey of England and disapparting with a crack.

*~*

"You know," Malfoy slurred after his fifth firewhiskey, "Your eyes are incredibly green." 

Harry, who'd sensibly stopped after his second, chuckled and replied, "I am aware, Ginny always said they were her favourite feature." 

"Where is the Weaselette?" Malfoy demanded, looking around as if she might appear any second, "Is she back at home cooking your food and warming your bed, o'saviour of the wizarding world?"

"Hardly!" Harry chuckled at the image of Ginny being anyone's cook and bed warmer, "That relationship ended before the war, and never really took off again." 

"Interesting," Draco pouted attractively, "So then Potter, who is your personal bed warmer?" 

"I don't have one." 

"I'll volunteer," Malfoy said, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Harry was suddenly assaulted with images of Draco in his bed, sprawled out naked, lurring Harry in with a suggestive smirk. Harry swallowed, hard.

Draco must have noticed this because his smile faded and he suddenly sobered up, "Right, I forgot. Thanks for dinner, Potter, I'll see you around." 

Malfoy got up, threw a couple galleons on the table and threw Harry a smile - that didn't reach his eyes - before turning around and heading into the drizzling rain.

*~*

Obviously, Harry had done something to offend Malfoy, although what was a mystery, because Malfoy hadn't pitched up the day after their dinner, and it didn't look like he was pitching up today either.

Maybe the git decided he was bored of the case, Harry reasoned, after all, they were still no closer to finding what culprit.

Harry rounded the corner of St. Mungo's, heading down to the mortuary. Although Harry already knew the cause of death, he felt useless sitting in his office reviewing the same files over and over again. 

"Auror Potter," Harry greeted the witch on duty, who nodded and let him in.

Harry walked towards the corner he knew the three victims lay in, taking in the pale corpses. Methodically Harry studied their heads, trying to determine something, even though he had absolutely no idea what he was looking for. On a whim Harry removed the white sheet that covered most of Keel's body, so that his torso was exposed. Malfoy had never studied the victim's torsos, focusing instead on the head and feet. Unable to determine anything from Keel's body, Harry moved on to Lauren's, and when he couldn't determine anything from hers, he moved onto Ronaldo's.

With a kind of weary resignation Harry lifted the sheet, dragging it down to Ronaldo's waist and staring at the mutilated skin. Harry was about to give up on finding anything when something on Ronaldo's forearm caught his eye.

Fucking hell.

*~*

Harry stormed into Malfoy's small shop, yelling his name.

"Merlin's beard!" The witch at the counter clutched her chest in fright, "Can I help you?" 

"I'd like to see Dr Malfoy," Harry said through clenched teeth.

"I'm afraid he's not here at the moment," The witch said nervously, "Can I take a message?" 

"Where is he?" Harry demanded.

The witch hesitated, and Harry flashed his Auror identification card, "It's official business." 

"Draco is in France, visiting an old friend," The witch said reluctantly, "He's staying in his villa there." 

*~*

Harry glanced around at the quaint looking villa in the middle of French countryside, and checked the address on the paper one more time. 

Folding the piece of paper into his pocket, Harry marched up the long driveway and knocked rapidly on the door. After about two minutes of violent knocking a sleepy, ruffled and very shirtless Malfoy opened the door, squinting at Harry in the bright light.

"Harry?" Draco asked huskily, "What are you doing here?" 

"I have something urgent to discuss with you," Harry replied stiffly, trying to ignore the way his name sounded coming from Malfoy's mouth, "Why did-" 

Draco's hand suddenly clamped over Harry's mouth, drowning out his words.

"Just wait," Draco said, drawing back his hand, "Not before coffee." 

With that Malfoy spun around and headed inside the house, leaving Harry to follow him. Harry made his way inside, shutting the door behind him and following Malfoy into the kitchen.

"Nice house," Harry admitted, admiring the simple, classic decor and neutral tones - a far cry from the ornate, prickly atmosphere the manor used to give off.

"Thanks," Malfoy said lightly, "I did it myself." 

"Your assistant said you were visiting friends, " Harry said lightly as Malfoy heated the water.

Draco snorted, "'Visiting my friends' is code for getting laid, visiting my parents and seeing some sunshine. England is not famous for it's beautiful weather." 

"Your parents live here?" Harry asked surprised, looking around for signs of Lucius' or Narcissa's presence.

Draco laughed, "Hardly, we barely see each other, they don't approve of my uh...life style choices."

"Which part?" Harry questioned, "Your profession? Your attire (Harry had noticed traces of eyeliner under Malfoy's eyes)?"

"Both of those," Malfoy said cheerfully, "But mostly my sexuality." 

Malfoy handed Harry a cup of coffee with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Harry willed himself not to rise to the bait.

"So," Draco said as he leant back onto the counter, showing off his long, lean torso, "What urgent business do you need to discuss with me?" 

Harry tore his eyes away from a love bite he had found below Malfoy's hipbone, ignoring the strange rise of jealousy in his stomach.

"Why," Harry asked in an accusatory tone, "Didn't you tell me that Ronaldo was a Death Eater?" 

Draco looked unimpressed, "I assumed you already knew." 

"How should I have known?" 

"The ministry doesn't often hire ex-ex-death eaters," Malfoy replied hotly, "One would assume it would be on Ministry File!" 

"Well it wasn't!" Harry said glaring at Malfoy, "So why…." Harry trailed off, looking confused, "Why wasn't it on Ministry file?"

Draco stared at Harry, "Well that's certainly a good question." 

Harry gulped down the rest of his coffee, "Get dressed, we need to retrace Ronaldo's footsteps, there's a good chance that something from his past has caused these attacks." 

*~*

"Ronaldo was never a big player during the war," Draco told Harry twenty minutes later as they walked down the path towards the portkey, "A few minor incidents but he was never evil, mostly I got the impression he regretted joining Voldemort's little group." 

Harry nodded, "I certainly don't remember him, but I there's got to be a reason the ministry has chosen to leave out that part of his history." 

"It could just be that the ministry didn't want their reputation tarnished," Draco mused as the pair grabbed onto the portkey, "The guy is an unspeakable after all." 

The familiar whirling feeling started in Harry's stomach and before long Malfoy and himself found themselves in the Ministry, hurriedly the pair of them ran towards Ronaldo's office, and came skidding to a halt when they noticed a tall, skinny boy packing up Ronaldo's items.

"Who are you?" Harry demanded.

The boy jumped, "I'm Unspeakable Specter's assistant Sir, " he stammered out, "I was away during the accident, I only received the news a couple of hours ago." 

Harry nodded, softening his tone, "Im sorry for your loss, did Specter ever interact with Professor Keel or Lauren Bloom from Muggle Protection?" 

The boy frowned, "Of course, the group went out for lunch every Wednesday." 

"Group? What group?" Harry and Draco asked together.

"Their little...friendship group, they met at The Garden Gnome." 

Harry and Draco exchanged a glance, The Garden Gnome was an extremely popular, high class conference centre. Important people and groups met there all the time because it was known for its secrecy and discretion.

"Thanks," Harry said to the young assistant, gripping Draco's bicep and directing him forcefully towards Harry's office.

"Watch it," Malfoy said lightly when they had rounded the corner, "If you spend any more time touching me, I might get the wrong idea." 

Harry shot him a look but released Draco's bicep. 

Reaching Harry's office the pair collapsed into their respective chairs, in a way that was rapidly becoming familiar and comfortable.

"I'll never get into The Garden Gnome," Malfoy announced, "My name is too infamous, you will get in, but I don't think even you will be able to get the employers to tell you what that group discusses." 

Harry nodded, thinking it over, "Well today's Tuesday, so tomorrow we'll go and try talk to their group directly."   
Malfoy snorted, "Didn't you hear me? There's no ways I am getting through that door." 

Harry shot him a sly smile, "Oh, I heard you." 

*~*

Harry and Malfoy walked towards the gold filigree gates, Harry dressed in his finest midnight blue dress robes and Malfoy...well Malfoy was wearing Harry's invisibility cloak.

"I knew there was something fishy about the way you always managed to sneak around Hogwarts! An invisibility cloak! Brilliant! Do you know how valuable this could be!" Draco's voice came from the space next to Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes, "I am actually perfectly aware, now shut up and crouch down a bit, your legs are so long they stick out." 

There was a moment of silence during which Harry regretted his words.

"Like long legs, Potter?" Malfoy's sly voice asked, clearly smirking.

Harry sighed, refusing to rise to the bait, lest he let out just how much he liked Malfoy's legs. Draco had pitched up in his office this morning wearing tight, skinny black jeans, a loose white shirt that was unbuttoned way to low to be decent, more eyeliner, several silver necklaces and knee-high dragonhide boots with fucking heels. Harry nearly had a heart attack, and was grateful he had decided to wear his smart dress robes, because Harry hadn't managed to convince his cock to relax ever since. 

The security guard eyed Harry suspiciously, "Identification?" He asked sternly.

Harry casually brushed his unruly hair out of his face, revealing his scar as he pulled out his Auror badge, "Auror Potter, on official business." 

The security guard's eyes widened and he nodded respectfully, "Of course, come in Auror Potter." 

Harry smiled in thanks and walked slowly through the gate, giving Draco enough time to get in too.

The pair walked up to the glass doors of the Garden Gnome, entering into the conference room and abruptly halting the conversation happening between the witches and wizards filling the room. Harry made his way up to the stage and stood behind the podium, feeling every eye on him.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, " Harry started politely, taking in the faces of about 20 people, some of which Harry recognised as being from the ministry, "Did Unspeakable Specter, Ms Bloom or Professor Keel attend these meeting meetings?" 

"Straight to the point," Draco muttered quietly behind him, "Typical." 

A low murmur echoed across the room as the wizards and witches spoke quietly to eachother, Harry waited patiently and sure enough eventually an older wizard (an Unspeakable, Harry thought) stood up.

"Yes they were, and we were all saddened by their deaths," The older wizard replied cautiously, "But I'm afraid we don't know why they were murdered, so we probably won't be much help if you are looking for information." 

Harry nodded, "If I may ask, what is it that you are meeting about?" 

Another low murmur, this one longer and more conflicted, and again Harry waited patiently.

Well at least he was waiting, until Malfoy pressed his entire body to Harry back, trapping Harry against the cool wood of the podium and the heat of Malfoy's chest. Draco's hands wrapped around Harry's hips, just hidden by the podium. Harry grew very still, much like, he thought hysterically, the way he got when faced with a dangerous situation.

"The blonde haired witch on the far right, the witch wearing lavender robes, the wizard with blue glasses and the one with hair worse than yours," Draco's voice came from right next to Harry's ear, velvety and smooth, "Are all ex Death Eaters. Minor players. Mostly roped in by circumstance, I don't think anyone of them actually wanted to serve him - much like your dead professor." 

Harry swallowed, he couldn't think, couldn't focus on anything other than the heat of Draco's body.Harry felt Malfoy's dragonhide, heeled boot wrap around his right ankle, adjusting their position slightly and aligning his groin perfectly against Harry's arse.

Harry had to swallow his moan, his cock was straining painfully against his boxers, and now more than ever he was grateful for wearing dress robes.

"Potter?" Malfoy purred quietly, "Am I making you uncomfortable?" 

Right. This fucking game again. Draco really had no boundaries. 

In answer Harry leant forward, putting his palms against the top of the podium and effectively grinding his arse against Malfoy's groin. Malfoy's cock twitched in response, and he immediately moved away from Harry.

Harry grinned to himself triumphantly.

As if the old wizard could feel Harry's triumph, he turned and addressed Harry again, "Auror Potter, I ask that you try to understand us before coming to any unjust decisions." 

The old wizard paused and Harry nodded encouragingly, willing him to finish.

"We meet here every Wednesday," The old wizard began hesitantly, "To support each other and discuss ways in which we can repent, you see… all of us had some kind of involvement in the war, on the wrong side, and we feel guilty about our involvement. We wish to try make up for our mistakes." 

The group watched him warily, waiting for his reaction. Harry could understand why, another auror would have seen this as a threat, a dark uprising even, but Harry was tired of being suspicious, tired of the nasty aftermath of the war, and was perfectly ready to believe these wizards.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, we've all lost so much from the war, it's important to support each other as much as possible." 

The relief on the faces of the gathering was both inspiring and sad, Harry thought afterwards.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like a list of all your members," Harry asked politely.

This naturally lead to more questions, which Harry waded through, and before he knew it Harry was walking out of the gold filigree gates, member list in hand, Malfoy hot on his heels. 

The pair walked around the corner, out of sight before Harry grabbed Malfoy's bicep and apparted to outside the coffee shop in Diagon Alley.

"Coffee?" Harry called over his shoulder at the reappearing mop of blonde hair.

Harry strode into the shop without waiting for a reply, ordered to coffees at the counter and found a booth.

Draco slunk into the chair opposite him two seconds later, looking every bit as gorgeous and alternative as he had this morning.

"I ordered coffee," Harry informed Draco

Draco stared at him intensely in reply.

Luckily the chirpy waitress brought their coffees to distract Harry from Malfoy's intense gaze.

When Harry next looked at Draco he had rolled up his sleeves, revealing his dark mark, and was sipping from his mug.

Harry started, "What the-?"

Draco watched him carefully. Harry leant forward and grabbed Draco's hands bringing them to his face to inspect them. Each nail had been painted jet black and an assortment of antique, silver tarnished rings adorned his fingers.

"How did I miss that," Harry muttered to himself, dropping Draco's long fingers.

Malfoy barked out a laugh, "You're really taking my appearance with a pinch of salt aren't you Potter?" 

Harry shrugged, grinning, "It's not your appearance Malfoy, it's just that it's you wearing your appearance. And it suits you, the concept of Draco Malfoy in eyeliner and leather is just a bit mind boggling, that's all." 

Malfoy smirked, "Aren't you curious as to how I got to wearing this kind of stuff?" 

Harry shrugged again, "If you want to tell me be my guest, but the change doesn't bother me, you're still Malfoy, just slightly improved."

"Careful Potter, that was almost a compliment." 

Harry feigned horror for a second, drawing a laugh from Draco.

"So…." Malfoy's voice took on a flirtatious tone as there was a lull in conversation.

"Stop," Harry interrupted Draco, "Malfoy, I know what you're up to." 

Draco smiled brilliantly, "Do inform me of your insights Auror Potter."

Harry shook his head, lips quirking up at Draco's antics, "You are trying to get a rise out of me. When insulting me like you did at school didn't work, you tried flirt with me, and although that's certainly more startling then insulting me, today was too far, don't you think?" 

Draco's smile widened, "Did I make you feel uncomfortable?" 

"No," Harry said automatically, too proud to admit defeat.

Yes, Harry's brain corrected him, extremely uncomfortable, you were about two seconds away from bending the git over the podium and having your way with him.

Draco quirked an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Really," Harry confirmed. Damn pride.

Draco leaned in, completely invading Harry's space, until Harry could smile the coffee on his breath.

"You know what I think?" Draco murmured, low and husky.

"What's that?" Harry managed to ask, voice hoarse, immediately half hard again, but refusing to back down from the challenge.

"I think, I think I make you very, very uncomfortable, I think you'd like nothing more than to run away," Draco murmured.

"Why would I want to run away?" Harry asked, voice slightly more stable.

"Because, my sexuality scares you, homosexuality scares you, you want to ignore it, shut it out, the thought of having another man underneath or above you freaks you out." 

Harry was so focused on the velvet voice and pouty lips in front of him that it took him a few moments to process what Malfoy had said. When it did register however, Harry couldn't help but pull back and laugh, loudly. 

Harry got up, still chuckling, and threw some money on the table.

"What?" Malfoy demanded.

Harry shook his head, "Maybe leave the detective work to me Malfoy, okay? I'll see you later." 

And Harry collected his invisibility cloak and walked off, still chuckling, and leaving behind a confused looking Malfoy. 

*~*

Really, once Harry had had time to think about it, the answer was rather obvious.

Obviously someone had wrongly assumed that the postwar recovery group that the murder victims had belonged to was up to no good, and had decided to take matters into their own hands.

However for some reason when Harry took this information to Kingsley the next day, the head auror hadn't looked happy.

"I mean it's a good start," Kingsley said slowly, "But there are a lot of blanks, like why were the victims all from the ministry?" 

Harry frowned, "I guess, but I'll go over the member list today and see if I can piece together anymore information." 

Kingsley nodded, "Please inform me when you come across any new information." 

Harry nodded, and walked back to his office. He was about half way through analysing the member list when there was a knock on his door.

"Come in." 

In walked a witch, one that Harry recognised from both the meeting yesterday and from around the ministry. She appeared to be nervous.

"Hi, can I help you?" Harry asked, frowning slightly as she looked around nervously and gesturing for her to sit.

"Hello," She greeted Harry, "I'm Joanna Young, from the Magical Creatures Department." 

Harry nodded, smiling reassuringly.

Joanna hesitated, unsure, "I didn't want to say anything yesterday and cause a panic, but I think I know why Unspeakable Specter, Miss Bloom and Professor Keel were murdered." 

Harry sat up straighter, "Yes?" 

"Well, I think it was because they were coming to see you."

Harry stared at the witch, "Excuse me?"

Joanna wrung her hands, looking upset, "Look, I wasn't supposed to, but I accidently overheard a conversation between Specter, Keel and Bloom about how they were going to ask you to speak at one of our group meetings, and then I saw Specter and Bloom discuss it again in Specter's office the day before Specter was murdered, and then Lauren - Miss Bloom - told her secretary to make an appointment with you just before she died! And although Professor Keel wasn't here to see you, I think maybe the killer thought he was!" 

Joanna had begun to hyperventilate by this point, so Harry got up and kneeled beside her reassuringly.

"Joanna," Harry asked cautiously, "Coming to see me isn't exactly a crime, why would someone murder three people just for coming to talk to me?" 

Joanna breathed quickly, "It's just that...Some people around the offices think that our group has evil intentions, maybe even to try rise the Dark Lord again, and I think if someone overheard Keel, Bloom and Specter talking about it they might have assumed they want to hurt you…" 

"And murder was their twisted way of trying to protect me," Harry finished grimly, "I see, thank you for bringing me this information Joanna." 

Joanna nodded shakily, "I just thought I'd better, " She babbled, looking relived, "Considering your new relationship with Draco Malfoy and all that..."

Harry looked up sharply, "Excuse me?" 

Joanna blinked, looking nervous again, "Well it's just that everyone knows you two have been spending time together, and he's a known ex...dark Lord supporter, so I thought I'd better tell you in case the killer targets him next!" She laughed nervously.

Harry's blood had gone ice cold, numbly he glanced at the clock, noting that it was well after Draco's normal lunch break. 

Harry didn't even stop to thank Joanna, he ran down to the floos, everything a blur around him, mind fixated on an image or Draco lying lifeless on the stone floor.

Harry shouted Draco's work address, barely registering anything around him, and when he got into the shop, ignoring the witch's shout for him to wait.

Harry sprinted up the stairs, wand at the ready. About half way up he heard Draco shout in alarm, which spurred him up faster. Harry burst into the room, catching sight of a cloaked figure kneeling over Draco, who was lying in a pool of blood. 

"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry yelled, swiping his wand viciously through the air.

There was a high pitched scream from behind Harry, who shouted for the witch to call the mediwizards, before rushing forward to check Draco's pulse. 

Still beating.

Harry quickly looked for black ooze, injection marks or stab wounds, but couldn't find any. Most of the blood seemed to be coming from a head wound that Draco had obviously bashed against the desk as he fell, the murderer must have cast some kind of fainting or disarming spell.

Looking back at the door Harry could see that instead of calling the mediwizards, the witch had decided to faint. Bugger.

Harry scooped Draco up in his arms and apparated with a bang, straight into the emergency room.

"I need some help here!" Harry yelled, attracting the attention of several emergency mediwizards.

They pulled the blood soaked Draco away from Harry, who told them as succinctly as possible, desperation clear in his voice, about the poison, head wound and circumstances. As they took Draco away in a stretcher, Harry felt a sinking, churning feeling of panic and desperation in his stomach.

"Shit, I'm so fucked," Harry whispered to himself.

*~* 

The owl came on Monday the next week.

Potter

Dinner tonight. My place, 6pm. Address enclosed.  
Not an option - you will attend.

D.M.

*~*

Harry stared at the front door of Draco's apartment at ten to six with a good measure of trepidation. He knew Draco had recovered fine - he had phoned St Mungo's to ask - but like the coward he was, Harry had decided not to visit the blonde git. Choosing instead to surround himself in paperwork from the case.

But he couldn't exactly ignore the git's dinner invitation without good reason...right?

Before Harry could come to a decision, Draco had flung the door open and fixed him with an exasperated look, "Are you going to admire my door all day?" 

"Git," Harry replied automatically, following Draco inside.

Draco's apartment, like his house in France, was tastefully decorated, with elegant finishings. Harry begrudgingly admitted to himself that Grimmauld Place could use Draco's interior designing skills.

"I'm nearly finished cooking, but you can help by chopping ingredients," Draco called from the kitchen.

"You can cook?" Harry blurted out, looking around the kitchen in astonishment.

"Yes Potter," Draco replied, rolling his eyes, "I didn't waste the time I spent in France." 

"Good to know," Harry replied cheekily, allowing himself to loosen up now that Draco wasn't consulting for him.

Judging by Draco's raised eyebrow, he had noticed.

"How's your head?" Harry asked instead, leaning against the counter and ignoring the chopping board for fear of losing a finger.

"Fine," Draco replied, "Doctor said I might have a small scar, but other than that no long lasting damage." 

"That's good," Harry replied, taking a moment to analyse Draco when he turned to stir in pot.

The blonde was barefoot, wearing simple black slacks, with a white button down shirt. Draco had chosen to forgo the eyeliner, silver jewelry and leather but Harry noted with a grin that he had painted his toenails black.

 

Draco cleared his throat, "That's actually why I invited you for dinner." 

Harry frowned, still focusing on Draco's appearance, "What?"

"To thank you, for you know, saving my life and all that," Draco managed awkwardly.

Harry laughed, "It's a pleasure, no need to thank me, it's my job and I put you in danger in the first place." 

"Good . Because that's the last time I'm going to apologise to a half-blood," Draco sniffed disdainfully, but Harry couldn't hear the teasing in his voice.

Harry chuckled and decided to change the subject, "No eyeliner today Malfoy?"

Draco turned around and grinned at Harry, "Seeing as this was an apology dinner I thought I'd ease up on the whole making you feel uncomfortable thing." 

"It doesn't make me feel uncomfortable, " Harry said immediately.

Draco smirked, "Is that an invitation Potter?" 

Harry narrowed his eyes, "You can wear whatever you want, Malfoy." 

Draco's smile widened, "I'll remember that for next time." 

The pair relapsed into comfortable silence as Draco took the pot off the stove, well it was comfortable on Harry's part, Draco seemed twitchy, but Harry figured what was bothering him would eventually come out.

Sure enough, two minutes later Draco snapped, "Are you going to make me wait all fucking evening?" 

Harry grinned, "For what?"

Malfoy glared at Harry as he served them dinner, "The fucking case Potter! Did you catch the guy? Why was he poisoning those people? Details Potter! Details!" 

Harry laughed, "Your so dramatic Malfoy," but preceded to tell him the whole story over their -admittedly very good - meal.

Harry told Malfoy how Joanna had visited him in the morning, and how she had told Harry of Keel, Bloom and Specter's plan to visit himself, and the conclusion they had come to about Draco's safety. Harry told Draco how he had put a full body bind curse on the murderer before rushing him to hospital. When Harry had returned more aurors were on the scene, turns out Malfoy's attacker had been Unspeakable Specter's assistant, the tall skinny boy Harry and Draco had met by Specter's office. The boy, Andy Fuller, had admitted to all the murders and a little more digging revealed that Fuller's father had owned an illegal potions shop before his death five years ago, and a search of Fuller's apartment revealed a sort of creepy shrine dedicated to Harry. 

"So," Harry finished as he stacked the empty plates in the sink, "You see, Fuller must have overheard Specter and Bloom talking about coming to visit me and assumed that worst, he would've had contacts from when his father ran his illegal potions shop, so he would have been able to get his hands on the poison. Then it was just a case of disguising the real death with another potion, one that would have gruesome effects and St Mungo's would never have found the real death, after all, no one suspects an assistant to be capable of brewing a complicated potion like that anyway." 

Draco was silent for a few moments, then he said smirking, "So basically, this whole thing all boils down to some kids obsession with you?" 

"Basically," Harry agreed.

"Typical," Draco scoffed, "You are a walking danger." 

"I can't help that I'm so appealing," Harry teased, washing his hands and then moving over to to dry them.

Harry had his back to Draco and was therefore unprepared when he felt Draco's chest pressing against his back...again.

"Is this going to become a habit, Draco?" Harry asked quietly, once he'd recovered his wits.

"I figured it's been long enough since I last made you feel uncomfortable, Harry," Draco purred, dragging out Harry's name in a filthy way that had Harry swallowing roughly.

Draco had put is hands on the counter in front of Harry, completely trapping Harry with the heat and hard lines of his body.

"You know, " Draco continued, "You never really explained..." 

Harry tried to listen to Draco, he really did, but the blood was rushing to his cock and ears and he couldn't focus on anything other than the lean, slightly taller body behind him, the sensual, slightly spicy smell of Draco's cologne, and the velvety smooth noise of Draco's voice. 

Harry was filled with so much want, need. Images of Draco in eyeliner and leather flashed before Harry's eyes and these last few days without Draco's presence had been boring and Harry couldn't stop wanting. 

Looking back, Harry should have known this was always going to happen. It was how their relationship worked, the constant challenge, the push and pull. It was fiery, hot and consuming. And Harry knew he shouldn't, he should leave, walk out Draco's life now, but he couldn't help it.

He snapped.

Harry spun around in Draco's arms, cutting Draco off in mid sentence, and pressed his lips to the ex Death Eater in a crushing, bruising kiss.

Harry's hands found Draco's hips and he gripped them, pushing Draco back into the opposite counter. Draco made a surprised noise into their kiss, which Harry used to lick into his mouth, tasting coffee, red wine and something that was distinctly Draco.

Harry couldn't help but let out a moan, and felt slightly triumphant when he heard it echoed from Draco. Harry wrenched his lips away from Draco's to attach them to that long, lean neck that had been distracting him for the last few weeks, Draco let out a breathy whine and fumbled with the buttons on Harry's shirt. 

"Bedroom?" Harry growled at Draco, tearing his shirt over the mop of blonde hair that had become messy with the flurry of their kisses.

"Too far," Draco gasped, undoing the button and zipper on Harry's jeans, "Jesus Christ Harry, I've waited long enough!" 

Harry bit Draco's collarbone in response, making his way rapidly down the blonde's chest, pausing only to bring one pink, puckered nipple into his mouth, sucking it with an obscene noise, before dropping to his knees and pulling open Draco's slacks.

Above him Draco let out a debauched moan.

Harry peeled down Draco's slacks, attaching his mouth to the spot on Draco's hipbone where he'd seen a lovebite in France and set about leaving his own mark there. 

"Fucking hell Harry, " Draco gasped out, "Get on with it!" 

"Impatient, Malfoy?" Harry murmured, looking up at the gorgeous git through his lashes as he peeled off Draco's boxers. 

Draco glared at Harry, but his snarky reply turned into a strangled moan as Harry teased the slit of Draco's cock.

"Fuck," Draco breathed, as Harry traced the vein on the underneath of his prick.

Harry smirked wickedly, muttered a couple quick lubricant and protection spells and brought his other hand up to tease the rim of Draco's arse, sucking lightly on the head of his cock.

"Tease," Draco growled, fisting his hands in Harry's hair, "Looks like I've finally found a use for all this ridiculous hair."

Harry slipped one finger inside Draco in retaliation, who let out a groan in response. Harry made quick work of stretching Draco, painfully aware of his own cock straining against his half-opened jeans. 

"Fuck, Harry," Draco gasped, hips lifting in search of more friction, "Hurry up, I'm ready!"

Harry couldn't take it much longer either, so he abandoned Draco's cock briefly to pull the rest of his jeans off, pausing briefly to admire how gorgeous and debauched Draco looked. 

Harry pulled one of Draco's long, lean legs to him, wrapping it around his waist, so that the head of Harry's cock rubbed against Draco's lubricated opening.

They both groaned at the friction, Draco threw his head back, nearly hitting a cupboard above him, and allowing Harry to bite at the pale expanse of neck now exposed.

"Do you have any idea how distracting you've been these last few weeks?" Harry growled at Draco, who whimpered in response, lifting his hips obscenely.

"Wearing your fucking leather and eyeliner and always standing too close," Harry continued, teasing Draco's hole with his cock, "Reappearing in my life looking like a wet dream, trying your best to rile me up." 

Draco groaned, "Potter I swear to God if you aren't fucking me in the next two sec - ah!" 

Harry cut Draco off by sinking into him, stopping only when he was balls deep, giving Draco time to adjust. Harry leant his forehead against Draco's collarbone, panting. 

"Move," Draco whimpered after a few seconds.

Harry caught Draco's lips with his own, kissing him deeply before pulling out of Draco almost completely and thrusting back in, hard and fast. They quickly built up a rhythm, Harry adjusting the angle of his thrusts until Draco let out a cry of pleasure - then Harry drove into that spot, hard and fast, feeling his orgasm building in his stomach.

"Harry," Draco cried out, "Not gonna last!" 

" Good," Harry growled, reaching down with one hand to tug at Draco's cock roughly.

Draco came spectacularly with a shout, clenching down on Harry's cock tightly and painting their chest's with long strands of pearly liquid. 

Harry groaned at the feeling of Draco clenching around him, feeling his orgasm crash over him in waves of pleasure as he emptied himself into Draco.

Panting, Harry leant his forehead onto Draco's shoulder, still buried deep inside of the blonde man.

The pair let their breathing slow in silence, enjoying the radiating waves of pleasure left from their orgasms.

"So," Draco said eventually, "I guess my sexuality probably doesn't make you uncomfortable." 

Harry chuckled, "How about I let you know over dinner tomorrow night?" 

Draco pretended to debate it before answering, "Alright fine, but I don't put out on the first date." 

Their shared laughter filled the kitchen, creating a warm, safe atmosphere. 

Yeah, their relationship would be a challenge, but then again, Harry had always liked challenges - and this one was no exception.

"I have dessert," Draco purred, "But it's in my bedroom upstairs." 

"You're insatiable," Harry grinned, but his cock twitched in renewed interest.

Draco grinned slyly, "We have several years to catch up on." 

Harry supposed that was a valid argument.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments fuel my life!


End file.
